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Our times are in thy hands, Father, we wish them there. Our light, our soul are all we leave and.
Entirely to thy care him #209.
Oh praise, no answer.
I know it's gone.
When we start the trading meeting, the second Chronicles.
Second Chronicles, Chapter 7.
At verse 12 And the Lord appeared to solve it by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a House of sacrifice.
Verse 14 If my people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins.
And will heal their land.
Alvine eyes shall be opened and my ears are tense, such as prayers that is made in this place.
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Turn over to 1St John.
First John, the 1St chapter, the seventh verse.
If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Chapter 2 and verse one.
My little children.
These things right I unto you that he said, not if any man's sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Pray.
Our God and our Father, we come into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ this afternoon as thy children, and surely we lift our voices today.
And we would seek blessing to ourselves and for our little ones, for all of God's people. We just do pray that doubts not only open up Thy word, but Thou open up our hearts. We pray that we might lay before the those things that so often hinder and come in. And yet we know that our faithful even where we are not faithful. And we thank Thee that with mercies and loving kindness.
And without his desire to encourage to build up.
And that we might be surely established, and those things that have been so beautifully brought before us by Thy Spirit for the Word of God. And we just do pray that Thou does also use these times to heal and to bring in encouragement for every direction, Lord Jesus, and that Thou hast opened our mouths to bless Thee and to praise Thee, and also to close our mouths.
As needed.
That the spirit may be heard the word of Christ and a truly a word of wisdom among us. So we just do commit ourselves to the.
In thy name we pray, give thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
Second Peter One.
And verse 16.
We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
This voice which came from heaven, we heard when we were with him in the Holy mountain. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Where unto ye do well, that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in the dark place, until the day dawn and the daystar arise in your heart. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation, or the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
I asked a question about cunningly devised fables here.
I thought this morning I'd like to read Romans chapter 14.
And help on that.
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First one.
This week in the street received thee, but not to doubtful disputation.
For one believeth that he may eat all things another week. It occurs that not despise him that he did not, and let him that which he does not judge him that he did. For God hath received him. Who art thou that judges another man's service?
To his own master he standeth or followed. Yeah, he shall be old enough, for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another. Another esteemeth every day of life, that every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
That regardless the day regarding it comes to the Lord, and either regardless not today to the Lord He does not regard it, He that eateth eat it to the Lord, for give us God thanks. And either needeth not to the Lord he is not, and give us God thanks.
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man diet to himself. Whether we live, we live under the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord.
And live therefore, or die. We are the Lord for this. For to this end Christ both died, and rose and revived, that He might be both lured both after dead and the living. But why themselves judge?
My brother, not my brother. He shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Just in connection with the Commons this morning, that might be more explanation on the Christmas and the Easter scene and these things were brought out.
Just to make a good brief comment from the Neil, a lot of our believers have never gone to Egypt and seen that edition Stone referred to and there are many words.
Innocently, you might say.
Going on with things possibly that others might say, well, I'm past that. So here's what they they're coming out there. Maybe a response on this make you some help.
Well, I believe that it's important that we not judge our brother because a person may really put a genuine motive to like to worship in there or celebrate the fact that the Creator entered his creation and we ought not to judge our brother in that thing. I believe we need to be careful. Somebody in town, you know, that's gathered with us. And I know he said to me, oh, I said I knew him and he said, oh, is he a Jehovah's Witness? I went to his house and I didn't see any Christmas decorations up. And I can see why there's a, let's be blunt about it. There's a tenderness as to that. People have impressions and I think we need to be very careful.
About judging our brother in a thing like that because.
Many in Christendom, they take up that celebration.
We're not judging the brother, we're judging the thing itself. And so Peter was one like this. Actually we find him in Acts. He said the Lord let down that sheet before he went to Cornelius and he said to the Lord, I've never eaten anything that is clean, uncommon or unclean. He was weak in faith, but the Lord said call not that common or unclean. What God has called clean. I'm not quoting exactly, but I think the Scripture is clear and the Lord had to deal with him and clear up his conscience.
He was a leader and so the Lord dealt with him in that and he opened the way. But perhaps these Roman Christians were going to eat many that were going to come into the assembly and they had a real struggle over eating ham or bacon, if I may put it this way, or working on the Sabbath day, which the Lord had told them not to pick up a stick and so on. And there was not to be a judgment as to the purity as the motives as a person that kept those days. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't instruct the Saints of God that if they don't know these things, the associations of these things, because we have.
In Peter cunningly devised fables and Christians are tricked into getting involved in things, and they don't know how seriously they are connected with that which it heathen. And so there's two sides. We don't judge our brother, but we do let them know that the fable is cunningly devised. Constantine came into Rome and he saw a vision in the sky. By this sign ye shall conquer. And he turned the Roman Empire of heathens into Christians. And so he turned heathen temples into basilicas and cathedrals. He turned heathen feasts into Christian feasts.
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And in a cunning way, he turned a bunch of heathens into outwardly professing Christians. Many people don't know that. And so we instruct, we don't insist, we don't violate people's conscience as to it.
That's why I believe Romans is very clear. We're not to bulldoze over somebody's conscience or to judge their conscience. That's why they may get involved in a thing like that. But we ought to instruct us to the true origin and source of these things.
We have had the experience that people, Christians, came into the meeting.
And the ladies were not used to cover their heads where they had gone before. We didn't take them aside. We didn't take her aside and say, sister, you better cover your head. We didn't say a thing.
But it didn't take long. She learned from example. She came with her head covered. You know, she saw all the other sisters doing it, and so she covered her head. And I'm just using that as an example. You have to give people time to learn. And that makes a law, of course, if she would have asked questions.
And if she would have gone on for a long period of time, not covering her head, then we might have had to try to explain things to her. But it wasn't necessary. She was a dear Christian lady, and she wanted to please the Lord. We were convinced of that. And it didn't take her long to realize that Scripture teaches that the woman should have her head covered. When she prays or prophecies, people say, well, does she prophecy in the assembly?
She doesn't speak in the assembly.
But when she says Amen.
You know, she identifies herself with the prayer that is made. You know, some people are so legal and they say a sister cannot say Amen in the assembly.
I don't believe that that is a proper use of the word of God. You know they all said Amen.
The scripture relates, but there are things that we have to give people time to learn. Well, Brother Heinz has just said, and I think Joyce Bauman, Bob Bauman's wife, had the same experience. She came in and sat down in front of Harry Hayhoe's ministry there in Toledo with her head uncovered, and it came along. And there's no doubt as to what the end of her pathways is.
In connection with those things, but as our brother pointed out in Romans receive not but the doubtful disputations. So if somebody, if that sister in Mozani had come and wanted to argue with you about whether or not we still had to cover our heads or whether that was just an old Corinthian thing, you would say we can't receive a person to argue about these things. The word of God is plain. And so there's the two sides of it. There's the there's not the not forcing the conscience. And yet at the other hand, the assembly is not to become a debating ground to debate what God has said.
Just a further point on that.
You know when for scriptures such as the head covering we have that direct scripture for that.
This portion there about the coming devised fables. Of course, the celebration of Christmas came long after this statement was written, so it doesn't apply that precisely.
So I was wondering about certain things left to the individual. It's not spelled out. For example, some say you shouldn't celebrate because the world does coming into the conference through those I spoke to. So you guys have a wonderful time. We were to the the Anglican Convention last week. You'll really enjoy it.
So these things are going on anyway. So should we not come here because the world does that too and we know the the answer is obvious. Not so at this point. There are certain things.
Another family, I'll say this here about 30 years ago when we first came into the meeting, first save first gathered a traveling brother in the Lord's work came through and.
It was Halloween time.
Because I have 4 kids.
And my wife made a mistake of saying.
It's an exercise. Every year for Halloween. My brother was Grey Adam. I would never forget it, he says. There should not be an exercise.
Be out. And that bothers us then. That still bothers me today, that kind of attitude because we weren't ready. It was too much too soon and.
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To do those things without my personal belief, you know, from the Lord, it's got to be something that I see from the Lord, if not becomes a legal thing. And that's what I'm getting at here.
But we have to realize is what is mentioned in Romans.
It's not referring to days that have their origin in paganism. In Judaism, they had certain days that were special days, and there were some Jews obviously in the church in Rome and they were not necessarily clear.
On these things, and I believe that is the proper understanding of Romans chapter 14.
And don't apply that to a Pagan holiday.
That brings dishonor upon the name of the Lord, associating the most blessed event that ever occurred with Pagan customs. You know, that is quite different from somebody who comes from Judaism and is used to considering some days more important than others. And it's not in Christian liberty as yet. That, I believe, is the point in Romans 14.
If you're up with the shepherds that were in Luke chapter 2.
And we just read there Luke chapter 2, verse 17.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning the child.
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the Shepherd.
And then verse 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying, praising God for all the things they had heard and seen as it was told unto them.
But here are men who were visited from heaven.
To be witnesses of the birth, the coming into the world of the Son of God.
And maybe if we would have met up with them.
The years after and got to know them and they probably would have told us about that night in Bethlehem when the Son of God became a man and they had this vision from the heavens. The angels themselves brought them to the consciousness that there was one born there with the Savior of the world.
Now, I can't say these shepherds heard the rest of the story.
When you hear the rest of the story, well, it's a wonderful thing to consider the Son of God coming into the world. And I say, brethren.
I agree with the thought of associating anything of the Lord the Pagan holiday, and that's something to really be exercising about, but if children of God.
Have chosen a day, or at peace at a day at going back to Bethlehem and wondering at the coming into the world of the Son of God, and if in their hearts they glorify God and praise God.
We should just jump on that occasion to tell them more about that one who came into the world.
And not offend them, shouldn't we?
It's so.
It could be that.
We have the opportunity with the neighbor.
Or acquaintance or fighting the unsafe family member.
And it does. It's the only occasion when we can have them in our home.
Read a Christmas story at The World Called Us and I started.
Michelle, just saying to expand on that.
A little more when the Lord Jesus came out of time, that may be the only opportunity that you might have to speak to that neighbor or that other. It was unsafe. Got the word of all of us to take whatever opportunity he gives us to do those things.
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It's interesting that Peter even mentions anything here about.
Cunningly devised fables. We would have thought that to just rehearse his experience, having been up on the Mount of Transfiguration, that he just would have just dwelled on that. But he had to qualify something because the God of this world is filled this world with fables. And he is deliberately done that because he wants to cast a counterfeit to everything that's real.
And so Peter had to qualify it and to move forward, we might say in carefulness, because how is he going to explain to us what he saw there on the Mount of Transfiguration? We might say, well, other people have had similar circumstances, so what's yours above another and but I just appreciate the carefulness. And he says we have not followed cunning devised fables when we.
Made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But we are eyewitnesses of His Majesty.
Has impressed me how the Lord said to the disciples that they would go up on the mount.
And I suppose those 3 disciples thought, what is the purpose of climbing up on that mountain to pray when we can do it just as well down here at the base? And so having made that effort to get to the top of the hill, what did they do? Why, they went to sleep. They were tired. And so the Lord has transfigured there and then they are awakened to that scene to imagine, to be able to take it in. Peter being impetuous.
He could say, Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make 3 tabernacles, one for Thee, one for Moses and one for Elias.
What a scene. Now to consider having been able to set aside cunningly devised fables.
What is it that they saw on that mountain?
There was one who didn't die.
One who was raised.
And the Lord of glory.
That's what is a picture of the Millennium.
You know, that's what we see on the Mount of Transfiguration and.
Wonderful that the disciples who were Jews.
And for looking for the Messiah.
They must have been disappointed that the Kingdom was not coming then and there.
But they get a preview of it on the mount of Transfiguration as much as to say don't worry about it, it's going to come and.
So it's wonderful that the blessed Lord will bring us with Himself.
You know, in that millennial scene when he comes back with us, the Scripture even says we shall reign with him and he shall be admired in all them that believe, glorified in the same, admired in all them that believe. You know, the grace of God, but it has accomplished will then be demonstrated to the world.
They might ridicule us now.
Think we're simple?
How foolish these Christians are. But in that coming day, it will be demonstrated that we weren't that foolish after all, that the grace of God gave us a vision.
That, hopefully others would have seen.
But it will be demonstrated in that day what the grace of God has accomplished for us and what it will accomplish for Israel. You know, wonderful to see that the dead race, the living glorified with him, you know, come back in glory. That's the millennial scene.
Isn't the important thing here?
That the man who wrote the book was there at the event because Peter didn't get it second hand. If we were reading something that Peter had gotten from somebody else, it might have been a cunningly devised fable, because you could accuse, you might say, or question whether it really happened that way or not. But God saw to it then that when it was to be recorded.
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The man who was present wrote the account of the event, and so it's unquestionably.
Through even to a a natural mind, Peter was there. Peter saw it, Peter witnessed it, and Peter wrote the account of it for us to read. One more thing you might add to that brother. As he said, he was about to depart. He was soon to give his life rather than give up that truth.
It's the most powerful witness of all.
That's true of John two, because he says which our hands have handled and so on in his epistle and John warned against those that would come in and bring in variations to the truth. And it was even the sights very soon after the apostle Jonah was already at work. He said that people were denying that Jesus, he was a spirit, but he wasn't a real man or he was a man, but he wasn't really God and all of these errors.
Already came into the apostles day and So what our brother David says it's important is that we get these direct accounts of those that were there and saw that.
John was the only apostle that doesn't write about it in the gospels. Matthew, Mark and Luke were not there and yet they write about the three do write about it. That's the way the Spirit of God led by inspiration.
I think it's important what it says in the 19th verse. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. We might be able to go back and base what we feel is correct on a vision that we've seen or something that we have experienced, but it becomes fables after a time. And even Constantine, we were just told to base his his work in Rome on a, on a, on a vision that he had of the cross.
What we need is a sure word of prophecy. What we need is the truth of God, and that will under score what He's given us in our vision or in our in in what we see. The truth is not what we see. It is not what we feel. The truth is in the Scripture itself, in the Bible itself.
And we must be, we must be settled on that. It's not what we see. It's not what we hear. It's what we read in the Scriptures.
Not what we imagine.
Not what we imagined. There's a lot of fanciful notions that are circulated sometimes even amongst the gathered Saints. What about the scriptures? Don't go by fanciful notions. The Word of God is the basis for faith, not pretentious mystical notions. Just be careful about that. You must always go back to what God has written in His Word.
So the force of that is that what they saw on that mount made the word of prophecy even more sure.
It confirmed the prophecies.
That's very, very good, brother Steve, because as we've just heard a moment ago.
There are fables everywhere, and a fable is really the attempt of man with his imagination.
Energized by Satan to counterfeit that which is real. There are fables out there that are false religions and Satan doesn't care what your taste is. If you want something that's militant and so on, you can go to Islam. If you want something that's more peace loving, you can have Hinduism and all kinds of variations. But there are fables in Christianity. There were fables in Judaism. Paul warns Timothy about them and I believe it had reference to things that were coming in.
Among the Jews. And so it is the attempt of the devil to counterfeit and destroy that which is real. And I think what we've had brought out is extremely important. That is, I cannot trust a vision. We don't say that God can't speak with a vision. God did appear to the apostle Paul a number of times in a vision. And it was important what the Lord said. But we have the word of God. And Peter says, not only do I have the word, but.
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The Lord allowed me to be there and see it. The Apostle Paul could talk about being caught up to the 3rd heaven, but he doesn't dwell particularly on that aspect of things. He rather says, You forced me to have to make this kind of revelation known. What did he depend upon? He depended upon that which was given to him directly from the Lord, and that is what we have in the Word and so here.
The word of prophecy is made more sure. And what do we do well to take heed to?
The word of prophecy. That is what the Lord directs us to, doesn't He?
We had a neighbor that that had a terrific experience, almost lost his life. And in this experience the Lord seemed to reveal himself to him in such a way that he was convicted of the fact that he was a Sinner. Well, he loved to tell about the experience that he had and what the Lord used to bring him to himself. And you know, as the years went by, he kept telling that story, but you know, it got weaker and weaker, the vision of all that.
Fled because he didn't have the foundation of the word of God to move on.
So the Lord may speak to us in very precious ways, sometimes too precious to tell anybody, but we cannot live on that vision. It will not sustain us in the pathway of faith.
Question is better. Do we look into the subject of prophecy, the word of prophecy?
Very important. 60% or more of the Scriptures are prophetic. You know, when the truth of the assembly came out, Christians came together, including J&D and others, and they came together to study prophecy. That was the subject at Lady Powers Court's castle.
And.
Then they found out that there is a vast period of time.
In between.
What takes place the present time prophecy is not being fulfilled. Now as to Israel, you know that's all future yet. And then they came to realize this is the day of grace, the church period and the truth of the church.
Was rediscovered. We are thankful for what the Lord used Luther and others for to recover Justification by faith, the supremacy of the Scriptures. Those were the two things that especially came out in the Reformation.
But if the supremacy of the scripture would not have been recovered.
Could they have been more recovered? They kept on looking into the scriptures. You know, we're thankful to see that more and more truth was given back. When I look at our hymn book and sing these hymns and then find out when they were written.
You know, many of the hymns we very much enjoy were written long before the Lord raised our brethren.
In other words, the hymns indicate that they entered into more truth than the reformers have, you know, and the Lord in His grace has given more and more truth back. And I'm what I'm saying now, it's not because we should be proud, but the fact is that the Lord used brethren to recover the truth of the body of Christ, the functioning of the body of Christ.
The practical expression of that truth.
To meet simply as members of the body of Christ and have the Lord in the midst and by the Spirit to guide and direct, not that they were the only ones that were looking to the Spirit. You know this book about the Christian testimony in the ages gives you that. The fact that there were movements of the Spirit of God at different times seeking to lead God's people to a fuller understanding.
Of the truth, but unfortunately it was lost again, you know, and but that didn't end with that. The Lord again and again raised up men. And so how wonderful that then finally he raised up men that he gave to understand in his grace the truth of Christ and the church, you know, and use them to recover that and we are.
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The heirs of that.
Truth happy laid hold of it, you know, but it all began with brethren and Christians looking into the subject of prophecy. You know, prophecy is a very important subject. He has written a very helpful book. I encourage you to get it if you haven't gotten it, but there are other books available that help us to understand.
The subject of prophecy, and it's important to get a hold of that and the word of prophecy.
Is not just foretelling future events, as I already I think pointed out earlier, it is also presenting previously revealed truth. It's also called prophecy in First Corinthians 14, but.
The prophetic scriptures.
Here, I believe that refers to what we normally call prophecy.
Connection with the thought of seeing you know.
Right now we go by faith. We haven't seen any of these things that are reported to us in the Word of God.
But those things that are reported to us in the word of God worship.
Luke says those that were eyewitnesses of these things. Apostle John says that we have seen and heard and have handled with our hands.
And here the apostle Peter recalls that time on the mountain where he saw the Lord, the physical Lord he was eating with and walking with. He was there and transformed before his eyes. I saw it in my eyes, he said.
Because the truth is a person, it's a living person, it's one who we're going to be able to touch and we're going to see with our lives. So it was a vision on the mount, but the vision that he was seeing was a real person.
And flesh and bones, when he came back down from the mountain, the Lord Jesus looked just the same as he was before he went up. When Peter saw him, he was in flesh and bone, in a glorified body. And that's who we're going to see. So we need the scriptures, and we should never get away from the scriptures. But the scriptures present to us a living person, a physical person that we're going to see. And we're going to be face to face with that blessed person. That's who He saw on the mountain.
And the voice from heaven said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am wealthy.
Though having not seen, we love, but we're going to see them. We're going to have that vision face to face and it's never going to be blurred.
That is the purpose of prophecy. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. And so man looks at the events going on in the world and what is happening, what is shaping up. And I appreciate what Brother Heinz has said, is that we're not seeing prophecy fulfilled now. But he scratches his head and he wonders where all this is going to end. But we really see when we consider what who Christ is and what his claims are upon this earth. He bought the whole field for the treasure that is found in this field.
We find in prophecy unfolding of God's purposes in connection with the 2nd man on this earth. And so we understand and prophecy really we, you know, you read maybe some commentator about events in the world and people have opinions about what's going on and so on. But when we open the scriptures and we have prophecy, we have God's opinions about what has gone on in the light of what he has revealed in His Word. And so we have the Scriptures and then the prophets have come along and they give God's opinion as to what He sees has happened.
Is happening is going to happen and that is and he gives those in scripture and he reveals to us because it's it's light in a confusing state of thing man doesn't know what's going on. And it's a real privilege that the youngest children here in the room that I believe that know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior have a clearer picture of what the events are going to unfold than the world's leaders do, but because they understand God's purposes in connection with his son.
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Practical application of how understanding prophecy has a good effect on us now and gives U.S. intelligence. We would not try to make this world a better place in which to live. That is what many sincere Christians tried to do. That is not what God is doing presently.
What God is doing presently is gathering a people for His name from among the Gentiles. That is what is presently going on and reaching out to Jew and Gentile alike, the gospel of the grace of God.
But after we are gone, then he is going to deal again with Israel. Now, we already know from the writings that were written more than 100 years ago that Israel would be a nation in unbelief back in Israel. Well, that happened. What is it in 48, Right? And I met a Jew out in California.
And he noticed my German accent. We had a very happy visit, you know, nice visit. And and I tried to encourage him to read the Bible, the prophetic Scriptures. And he said to me, Adolf Hitler served a purpose. Yes, I said he served the purpose. Or he said, you're the first German that tells me Hitler served a purpose. What purpose do you think he served?
Well, I said, if you would know the prophetic scriptures, you would know there would be a nation.
In unbelief in Israel, the Holocaust made the Western powers to realize Israel needs a homeland. Oh yeah, he said. It all happened after that, you know, Yes, God allowed the Holocaust to have this influence.
That powers France, England and America gave the Jews a homeland, you know. But the sad thing is, and we don't take delight in that, we know they will go through a lot of trouble. Yet, you know, Jacob's trouble is yet coming. Many will perish, and Bruce even estimates the millions that will perish and but they will remnant be saved.
And he will deal with them again after we are gone, you know, and then he will deal with Israel, and he will come back, the Lord Jesus, and deliver them and get rid of the Antichrist and overthrow the head of the Roman Empire. Those two are in cahoots, the Trinity of iniquity in Revelation 13, you know, two of them are.
The head of the Roman Empire and.
The Antichrist. They will be in cahoots, but he will overthrow them and then set up the glorious reign.
Peace will be appreciated. The Kingdom of peace will be enjoyed.
The desire of the nations will have come. The scripture says it's coming. It hasn't come yet. But you know what People in the world don't desire Peace.
You know peace is what people desire, but they won't, they won't have it until the Prince of Peace comes. The Lord Jesus, He will establish peace and He will reign in righteousness. You know how wonderful a time that will be, and we will all be part of it. You know we will reign with Him. Grace has not only given us a portion in heaven, we will reign with Him.
The earth, you know, wonderful to see that. Of course, Revelation 5 is primarily the heavenly Saints rejoicing in what is going on on earth with the Saints who are unearthed at that time. That's Revelation 5. The heavenly Saints, the 24 elders, represent those from the Old and New Testament rejoicing in what they're seeing going on on earth when.
People are saved from every kindred tongue, people and nation.
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Through the Gospel of the Kingdom.
Then he will reign for 1000 years. You know, Hitler thought that he would have 1000 year Millennium only lasted 12 years and three months. And how much sorrow did he 'cause, you know, and what was breaking his neck more than anything is that he persecuted the Jews. You know, anybody that touches them touches.
At which is dearest to the heart of God of nations. Speaking of the nations on earth is people. Isn't it wonderful? The word of prophecy just becomes that much more sure the closer we get to the Lords coming. Not that it's a prophecy actually being fulfilled, but how everything falls so clearly into place exactly the way the Lord said it would be.
And even though the day hasn't dawned, I don't know.
It's right to say that maybe a lot of us are feeling the day start beginning to rise in our hearts. And if we're that close, you know, if we go back to verse 14, we may be closer to the end than Peter himself was. He knew he was about to see the Lord. We may see the Lord sooner than Peter did when he wrote these words.
Other day the word of being more sure the word of prophecy is what they saw on the mount division made to sure the word of prophecy sure. I think that's the meaning here. I understand that but for us where we sit now we see it exactly unfolding as it was written and that is a reassuring thought I believe to those that are waiting for the Lord's coming not to change the meaning of the.
Primary meaning of it, but just to apply it to our hearts now.
There's a thought maybe we could just go back a little bit.
We've used the word fable and vision interchangeably, but it's really there are two very different things. A fable is a made-up story to teach a moral lesson, and that's how the world looks at the book we have in our labs as a collection of stories that's all been made-up and they teach nice moral lessons and very useful for that.
I know a young boy who was in school just recently and that they were going over the history of Judaism and Christianity and the subjects of Abraham and Sarah came up and the birth of Isaac. And the boy said to his teacher, wasn't she almost 100 years old? I think she's about 90, almost 100 years old when Isaac was born. And the teacher said, well, I think they counted years different back in those days. You know, to that mind, it's just a collection of fables.
But Peter says it's not. We were eyewitnesses and all the accounts that we have in the Word of God were true accounts. It's not a collection of fables just to teach us more lessons. It's the truth of God. And so when he saw that on the mount, now those Old Testament prophecies came by vision. God gave those prophets visions and they saw things and they wrote them down, penned by the Spirit of God.
The truth of God as well, that a vision is not the same thing as a fable. But now those visions that they saw and wrote down by the inspiration of the Spirit of God have been confirmed, because those visions all looked on to the coming power and Kingdom and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what they saw on that mount was a little sample, a little foretaste, and as our brother brought out in flesh and blood and bones.
Of that coming power and Kingdom.
And glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto which all those prophecies run.
I have a question in connection with the 11Th verse. It's just a short question, but because it's called the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and we've been Speaking of that vision on the mount which will speak to us of the Millennium, which it won't last forever. Is that still what is being referred to in the 11Th verse? The Kingdom of our Lord on the earth for 1000 years?
01:00:04
Well, I believe Brother Clarence Lundeen answered that for some years ago and.
Excuse me, I've enjoyed his comments on it and I would encourage anyone that has a question about it to get the pamphlet entitled The Kingdom and the Inheritance because he points out there that while the Kingdom as to its character on earth, yes it does have a finite length of time, 1000 years.
But at the same time, the Lord Jesus in being placed in that wonderful position and given that inheritance, it's an eternal inheritance which God never takes away. And in that sense, well, the time comes, as we know from First Corinthians 15, when he delivers up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be All in all. We know that the sense of God used there, I believe, is God in Trinity.
And in that sense, the Lord Jesus never loses what the Father gives him as that inheritance. And so I would suggest that the word of God more than once refers to it as a being everlasting. Is that right, Neil? Oh, yeah. I think that's a very enjoyable thought. And especially, too, since Peter was writing in his first epistle, here were these Jews. They had Abraham for a father. They had an earthly Kingdom proposed toward them. And everything that they got in Christianity was better.
Because now we're not just associated with a millennial Kingdom that's going to last 1000 years, but.
And we get a little poor taste of this. We're here together with brethren in an orderly way and enjoying communion. We are going to enjoy that forever. And morally we're going to be in a condition that is more. There's not going to be in the sense king and rule in the eternal state, but we are going to be in a state where it's hard for us to imagine that a condition in which troubles are not going to come into spoil things and things are going to be morally conformed to God and there's going to be a state of undisturbed happiness.
Forever and ever and ever.
This statement has been made before, but it might not hurt to make it again. I've enjoyed it so much, and it isn't an original with me, but I've enjoyed it. That is, that the Millennium is necessary for the public vindication of God's holy character. Man dragged his glory in the dust through Satan, and for 6000 years, man through Satan, more or less.
Has had his way and the result was they crucified the Son of God. God is going to vindicate that blessed one on this earth as man during those thousand years. So the Millennium is necessary for the public vindication of God's holy character. But then the brother who made the remark went on to say the eternal state is for the everlasting satisfaction of God's heart. And that's that's where you're bringing out Neil.
God, God has to justify and vindicate His beloved Son, but once all evil has been dealt with and put away, then God is going to have an eternity when His heart will be satisfied where no sin can ever enter.
Sorry.
I think that's even why in the book of Esther where you find the Gentile bride would not adorn herself for the king and we find that in the revelation after the true church has been raptured. She says I am a queen and I am no widow to the public eye of God. The bride of Christ has spurned of.
To the public eye, I mean, not of God, but of man, he looks and he sees what the church has done to Christ. He's brought him into terrible shame. And so God will take up the Jewish bride, as it were, as a picture of that relationship. So there's a genuine picture of that here on this earth. So there would be a display of that. It's a temporal one. I have a picture of my wife. I wouldn't want you to rip or spit on it, but it and it I say to you, that's my wife. It's a picture of that. It's not that I have two wives.
And so God will have a display here on this earth of that relationship, but it's to vindicate him even in connection with that, I believe on this earth. But the eternal state is that satisfied condition, as you say. I'd like to also make some comments on God saying.
01:05:01
This is my beloved son.
No.
Why does he make that statement?
When Moses and Elias appeared.
The suggestion was.
Build a place for Moses, for Elias, and for the Lord Jesus. That was the suggestion. God, as much as he's saying, this is my beloved son, don't put the others on the level of my son. I believe that's the proper understanding. That's why God gives this testimony. This is my beloved son.
And don't put them on that level of Moses and Elias. And we better always remember he is the Son of God. He is worthy of all of our honor. And while we certainly appreciate the servants of the Lord, we even appreciate the writings that we have from Paul and Peter and so on, but they were just servants of God.
They were not in the same position as this pleasant one, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God. This is my beloved son. And in another gospel it says hear him, you know, get your directions from him. But how wonderful to see that God guards his Son. Don't put him on the level of Moses. Any liars. Perhaps we should just say this and most know this, that private interpretation in connection with prophecy.
Is not that you can't study scripture alone, but it is no prophecy to be taken out of context. And so there's a scope of prophecy. There's an outline to sound truth. And so you can't. Heresy is to choose, and it's like a buffet supper. You choose what you like and you leave what you don't. But there's a scope to truth. Paul encouraged Timothy to get an outline of sound words. And so there's a scope of prophecy and there's no prophecy that's unrelated to another one. And so.
When people look for contradictions in scripture, they don't believe the scripture. They look for contradictions. But when believers see differences or seeming contradictions, they see them as nuances, and they see that God is trying to point something out. And so if one scripture creates a difficulty for you in your mind, the Lord will bring another scripture before you to explain it and to put it into its place.
Papa See is alive. Prophecy is a life.
For us now, if we understand it, we know what our.
Conduct is to be and so it's a light and a chance in a dark place. This world is a dark place because the devil is the God and Prince of it. You know the power of darkness, but.
There is a day dawn coming.
That's when the Lord Jesus comes.
At the star, arise in your heart that is already now, right? Presently He can arise, He can be that star that arises in our hearts and but there is a time coming when he will come back in power and glory. And in the New Testament we have that Scripture, isn't it in Titus looking for the glorious, the blessed hope and the glorious appearing?
We as Christians many times concentrate quite a bit on the Rapture.
But we ought not to be just looking for the rapture. That's what that Scripture says. Not just for the Rapture, also for His glorious appearing. You know, we look forward to the day when He will have his day of glory in the very place where he was rejected and crucified and slain, and he will be honored and glorified. Recognise, God will see to it every knee has to bow to Him.
And that will be before the Great White Throne, but it will also be when he comes back to reign. And those who don't recognize him and don't come to Jerusalem, they will not be blessed during the millennial, you know, they have to recognise the one that is in control and reigning, not just over Israel, over the world, you know, and.
01:10:01
If you don't know where the United States fits in, don't find a country like that in the prophetic scriptures. Maybe like somebody has said, maybe it's part of the European Union. We don't know. But it also might be, as Mr. Kelly thinks, that it will disintegrate in small, insignificant factions that William Kelly. But he was an Englishman. But anyway, the point is the Lord Jesus.
Will have His day of glory. And we are not just looking for the rapture that is our blessed hope, but let's also look for the glorious appearing. Isn't that really the force of the day dawning and the Daystar or the Morning Star rising in your hearts? We're keenly interested in that, dear brethren, right now.
Before God can go on with his eternal counsels, He has to catch us out of this world. And so the Morning Star heralds the day.
But it's not the day. And so when we're raptured out, then the sun can rise over this world, and He'll come forth in his power and glory to take up his place in this world. What a day that will be. But for us, we're looking for the dawning of the day in the morning. The difference isn't there in the dawning of the day and the appearing of the sun. To get up at 4:00 in the morning in the summer, you can say. You can say the dawn of the day, the day's coming.
And if you watch, I know in our area you can see the morning stars, but the only star you can see as the sky gets brighter, that's the only star you can see, the morning star. So we have the word of prophecy during the night as a lamp in a dark place, but we can also see the day dawning now. And the Lord Jesus is coming. And after they start rising in our hearts, Even so, come, Lord Jesus, it's on the horizon. Brethren, today is dawning. The sun hasn't appeared yet. But before the sun appears, the Lord is going to come and ****** us out of the world.
So as wonderful as prophecy is, the present personal possession of Christ in our hearts eclipses everything else.
OK.
324.
Lord Jesus, come.
Or let us longer 324.
No.
01:15:39
We sing.
Before that, the Lord himself shall come and shout a quickening word. Thousands shall answer from the tomb forever.
I usually I like to sing this to a tune that has the fifth verse. It has the court. Let's rise.
The Lord thou shall come, thou shallow Philippines whatever, God bless you all, never shall follow the soul of the world.
22.
Revelation 22.
Last clause of verse 16.
I am the root and the offspring of David.
And the bright and morning star.
Our God and Father, we look up to Thee at the end of this meeting.
And we do thank thee for bringing Christ before us in all his beauty, in all his glory. And we thank thee, our God, that there is a day coming what thou wilt vindicate that blessed One in this world, and when as man, he shall be declared King of kings and Lord of Lords.
We trust our God that we are among those of whom the apostle could speak when he spoke of all those that love is appearing.
01:20:10
We thank the Lord Jesus that before that appearing takes place, we will see Thee as the Morning Star, and we thank Thee that the Morning Star has even now arisen in our hearts while we look for the day to dawn.
We thank the Lord Jesus for the hope of thy near return, perhaps today.
We think of what we have had before us in this chapter, in the last few meetings, of that which speaks to our hearts but also to our consciences, as we think.
Of a walk that is in keeping with those who recognize the Lord Jesus as the rightful King, and who look for Thee to come at any moment. Give us then, not merely to be hearers of Thy word, but that we might be doers as well.
We give thanks then, for what we have had before us.
Command thy word to thee, to the heart and conscience of each one of us.
And the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.